WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
APRIL 30, 2021
TOPIC: EXPECT GOD TO DISAPPOINT YOUR ENEMIES’ EXPECTATIONS
BY T. O. BANSO
“The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect” (Psalm 33:10 New King James Version).
You would be naive to think that everybody has good expectations concerning you. No. Not everyone has good expectations for you although they may smile with you or laugh with you. They could even speak positively about you. That’s not proof that they have a good, positive expectation concerning you.
The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Only the Lord who searches the heart knows what is in the heart of everyone (verse 10). Nevertheless, since you cannot stop anyone from having whatever expectation he wants to have towards you, you shouldn’t allow that to worry you.
You can trust God to frustrate whatever evil plans anyone has. You can expect Him to disappoint their evil expectations. Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, says God frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot carry out their plans (Job 5:12).
The LORD says in Isaiah 54:15, “Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake” (New King James Version). Child of God, you should expect God to disappoint your enemies’ expectations. You cannot stop them from having their evil expectations but God can stop their evil expectations from being realized.
A viper is a poisonous snake, a venomous snake. In Acts 28, this snake came out of the bundle of sticks Paul had gathered and laid on the fire the natives of Malta had kindled because of the rain and the cold. The viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on Paul’s hand.
On seeing the creature hanging from his hand, the natives said to one another that Paul was a murderer, whom though had escaped the sea, justice did not allow him to live. They expected that the viper would bite Paul and he would die. But Paul just shook off the viper into the fire and continued enjoying the heat of the fire. He didn’t suffer any harm.
Acts 28:6 says, “However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god” (New King James Version). Did you see that? They changed their minds when their expectation of death for Paul didn’t happen. God disappointed their expectation. They called Paul a god! Yes, a god!
I recall that in Exodus 7:1, the LORD said to Moses that He had made him a god to Pharaoh and Aaron his brother would be his prophet. Also, in Acts 14, the people of Lystra called Paul and Barnabas gods after Paul had healed a certain man without strength in his feet, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked (verses 8-9).
Verse 11-13 say, “Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men’ And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes” (New King James Version).
But Paul corrected them that they were not gods but human beings like them, preaching to them that they should leave the useless things they were doing and turn to the living God. Let me go back to the viper story which was not a little deliverance for Paul. As I’ve said, a viper is a poisonous snake.
In Numbers 21, the Bible tells us how many Israelites died from snakebites because they spoke against God and Moses. “And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:5-6 New King James Version).
But in Paul’s case, the viper didn’t bite him; he didn’t die. God disappointed the people’s expectation of death towards him. This season, God will disappoint the evil expectations anyone has towards you. Whoever is expecting you to die will wait forever. What they expect to kill you will not kill you. What they expect to hurt you will not hurt you.
You will tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall in any wise hurt you (Mark 16:18; Luke 10:19). You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion, and the serpent you shall trample underfoot (Psalm 91:13). The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly Romans 16:20). Expect God to disappoint the expectations of your enemies.
In Daniel 3:19-25, God disappointed the expectation of King Nebuchadnezzar that the three Hebrews who didn’t worship his gold image would die in the fiery fire. But the exceedingly burning fire didn’t hurt them. God preserved them. God did a similar thing for Daniel. He didn’t die in the lions’ den as those who conspired against him had expected. He came out alive the following morning. However, when his enemies and their children and wives were thrown into the lions’ den, the lions devoured them before they got to the bottom of the lions’ den.
Expect God to disappoint the expectations of your enemies as he did for Paul, the three Hebrews, and Daniel. He also disappointed the expectation of death concerning Peter. In Acts 12, the angel of the Lord released Peter from prison where he was kept under tight security by Herod with the expectation of bringing him before the people after Passover.
Acts 12:2-3 says Herod had killed James the brother of John with the sword and because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Obviously, the plan was to kill Peter. After the angel supernaturally released Peter, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people” (verse 11 New King James Version). God delivered him from the expatiations of his enemies. He will deliver you, too. God will disappoint their expectations.
In Acts 23:13-22, there was a plot to ambush Paul and killed him. The plotters had bound themselves under a great oath that they would eat nothing until they had killed him. But God allowed the plot to leak to the son of Paul’s sister and eventually the plot was foiled. God disappointed their expectations. I don’t know when they eventually broke their satanic fast since they never got their target! Your enemies won’t ever get you in Jesus’ name.
Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites failed to realize their expectation of attacking Jerusalem and causing confusion to frustrate the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem which was progressing (Nehemiah 4:7-18). Nehemiah said, “And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work” (verse 15 New King James Version).
Expect God to disappoint the expectations of your enemies. “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect” (Psalm 33:10 New King James Version). David said, “For they intended evil against You; they devised a plot which they are not able to perform” (Psalm 21:11 New King James Version). This shall be your testimony too.
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, threatened to attack Jerusalem but the LORD turned him back. He disappointed his expectations. He sent one angel into the camp of the Assyrians who struck dead 185, 000 troops. When he ran home, his sons struck him down with the sword in the house of his god. (Isaiah 3:36-37). As David said, the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous (Psalm 37:17).
Expect God to disappoint the expectations of your enemies concerning you and your family, business, career, or ministry. “Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us” (Isaiah 8:10 New King James Version).
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, disappoint all expectations of my enemies towards me, my family, business, ministry, etc. Let their counsel come to nothing and let their word not stand. Father, send Your angel to deliver everyone currently in the captivity of the enemy. Disappoint the expectations of their captors to kill them or other evil expectations they may have.
(For over 600 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
